Event Details

Date:

November 21

Time:

9:00 am - 5:30 pm

The European and international insurance market has been soft for several years and there are few signs of a general market hardening. Most within the commercial and corporate risk and insurance management community believe that this is the ‘new normal’.

But this stubbornly soft market surely presents risk managers with an opportunity to shift the focus firmly onto service and the most important thing of all: Claims.

For insurers and brokers this represents an opportunity too. In such a market the insurers must seek to differentiate themselves in any way other than price, and service is clearly the way ahead.

Those insurers that can build a valid and lasting reputation for the smooth, efficient, painless and rapid payment of valid claims will clearly be the winners.

Patrick Smith, former chairman of UK risk management association Airmic, neatly summed this up during a recent conference on claims in London as he said: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

This year’s Brussels Risk Frontiers conference, held in partnership with Belrim, the Belgian risk management association and Ferma, the European Federation of Risk Management Associations, will focus on important developments and plans for the European risk management profession and then move on to a detailed discussion about this most important part of the market’s function: the efficient payment of claims.

Day 1

Presentation & Panel Discussion: Risk Management update: The state of the profession.

An update on the latest activity, initiatives and plans for risk managers from Belrim, Narim and Ferma. Commercial Risk Europe editor Adrian Ladbury will then host an interactive discussion about the next steps in the evolution of the risk and insurance management profession and find out what risk managers want their partners in the risk transfer industry to focus upon in 2019 and beyond.

CRE Editor Adrian Ladbury interviews a panel of leading lawyers and other experts to find out what impact Brexit will have upon the UK and European insurance market. Key questions to be tackled include:
What will be the likely final outcome of the Brexit negotiations for the financial services sector and insurance in particular?
What are the worst-case and best-case scenarios for both policyholders in the UK and Europe and the insurance sector in general?
How have London-based international insurers that offer cover to European risk and insurance managers reacted to Brexit? What have they done to ensure that coverage certainty is achieved and access to capacity is not disrupted?
What are the pros and cons and the venues selected for EU-based operations of London-based international carriers including Belgium, Luxembourg and Dublin?
Will EIOPA accept ‘letter-box’ subsidiaries of London-based specialty and international insurers and reinsurers to underwrite EU business in the long run? Should international insurers really be looking at more substantial longer-term solutions such as the creation of subsidiaries in ‘onshore’ insurance centres such as Paris, Cologne or Madrid? What are the pros and cons of these centres?
What do risk and insurance managers need to do to ensure that Brexit will not impact the validity of cover and ability of policies to respond when claims are made for both EU-based and UK-based policies?

Virginie FrematPartnerCMS

Herman KerremansChief Development OfficerJLT Belgibo

10:50

Coffee break

11:10

Presentation: Coverage certainty: Can the European insurance market commit to a basic set of standards on claims?

The Spanish risk management association IGREA has called for agreement of liability within 30 days and an initial payment at least within 60 days – can this charter be extended to the rest of Europe? A panel of claims directors with leading European insurers will tackle the following core questions:
What are the reasons why claims become so complicated and delayed and mean that risk managers cannot provide certainty to their CFO about quantity and timing of payment? What are the main barriers and how can they be overcome?
Do claims naturally become more difficult during a soft market as insurers seek to improve cash flow and profits at a difficult time?
How can risk manager, broker and insurer work together more effectively when the contract is agreed in the first place to achieve real coverage certainty and avoid complications when the claim occurs?
What are the best processes and procedures to follow when the claim occurs to ensure that the process is as smooth and painless as possible?
Who should be involved in this process and what role should they play to ensure the best possible outcome?
Do loss adjusters help improve the situation for risk managers or complicate them?

Ron BakkerClaims Service Manager, Continental EuropeChubb

Bas BaksPartnerCMS

Gottfried BosClaims DirectorMarsh Netherlands

Valerie Van MeldertHead of Multinational BeneluxAIG

Stephen TesterPartnerCMS

George OngHead of Corporate Governance and Chief Risk OfficerNorthern Ireland Water

12:00

Presentation: Global Programmes – How to use technology to make the claims process really work

The ongoing march of globalisation has increased the complexity of global programmes and not least in the area of claims. This session will tackle the following important questions:
How have rising trade barriers and protectionism affected the way claims are dealt with in global programmes?
What are the complicating factors that need to be avoided when dealing with international claims?
How do you make sure that you are compliant with the local rules when handling and distributing payment for claims within global programmes?
How can you ensure consistency of claims handling and payment when you are dealing with multiple brokers, insurers, fronting companies and loss adjusters?
What do risk managers need to do to ensure that all parties involved have the right information to efficiently deal with a claim in a global programme and avoid dispute?
What new technology is available to provide greater transparency, clarity and coverage certainty when dealing with an overseas claim within a global programme?
What client-centric solutions should insurers be adopting that cut response times and give real-time data that is consistent no matter where in the world it is being accessed?

Valerie Van MeldertHead of Multinational BeneluxAIG

12:45

Lunch

14:00

Case study presentation: The importance of teamwork in the face of an emergency

In 2015 a major fire developed at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, which is the largest airport in Italy, servicing up to 200,000 passengers each day. In order to effectively manage the devastating effects of the fire damage a team of disaster recovery specialists were called in and worked closely with the airport, authorities, security, insurers, brokers and the press in order to get the airport and the shops operational again. This required close teamwork and communication throughout the chain.

Filippo EmanuelliMDBELFOR Italia

14:45

Accessing claims expertise through a broker's in-house claims team

In an ideal world a risk management department would include a team of dedicated claims experts to handle the biggest and most complex claims in the most cost-effective and efficient manner and ensure that the company derives maximum value from its investment in insurance coverage. But, under cost pressure, most risk and insurance managers do not have this luxury and have to rely on external service providers to help out. This role is arguably ideally suited to the broker who can deliver use their independent position to deliver a crucial service to the customer at time of need but in recent times most brokers have cut back their investment in claims service.

The honeymoon period for cyber underwriters is over as claims are now hitting this new line of business. This session will explore how these claims need to be handled in order to ensure that risk managers receive the value and protection they expected when the cover was bought and how the claims will affect the development of this increasingly important line of business. Questions to be tackled include:
What volume of cyber claims has the European market faced in the last couple of years? What can be learned from experience in other markets such as North America?
What type of claims are being made and which are the fastest growing?
How have cyber policies responded? Have the policies responded as risk managers hoped and expected they would?
Have there been any significant coverage disputes and what lessons can be learned from this?
What information do risk managers need to gather and report in order to ensure that liability is established rapidly and the claim is settled as swiftly as possible? What is the best way of delivering this information to ensure the process runs as smoothly as possible.
How could and should risk managers, insurers, brokers and loss adjusters work together to ensure that these claims are efficiently handled and paid?

The European Risk Management Awards dinner and presentations will take place following the conclusion of the conference. Please note that this is a separate event and attendance is not included in your conference attendance. If you would like to attend the Awards dinner and are not already registered, please email awhite@commercialriskonline.com.